Safety attachment fob railroad-cars



H. A. NBWHALL. SAFETY ATTACHMENT PoR RAILRAD GARS.

No. 20,293. Patmd May 1a, 1858.

I r..-..-----.. ----r Lvl u .rr Y I J H. A. NEWHALL, OF NEWTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

SAFETY ATTACHMENT FOR RAILROAD-CARS.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 20,293, dated May 2B, 1858.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, H. A. NEWHALL, of Newton in the county of Middlesex and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and Improved Safety Attachment to be Applied to Railroad-Cars; and I do hereby declaro that the following is a full, Clear, and exact description of the same, reference oeillg had t0 the annexed drawings, making a part of this specification, in which- Figure l, is a longitudinal vertical sect-ion of the adjoining ends of the platforms of the cars with my improvement applied to them. F ig. 2, is a plan or tcp view of ditto.

Similar letters of reference indie: te corresponding parts in the two figures. This invention consists in the employment or use of supplementary yielding platforms or treads constructed in a peculiar way, and used in connection with side guards, the above arts being so arranged that they may be applied to the ears and afford perfect protection to passengers in passing from one car to another while the same are in motion.

To enable those skilled in the art to fully understand and construct my invention I will proceed to describe it.

A. A, represent the adjoining ends of the platforms of two cars, and B, B, represent the usual or any proper coupling.

To the under side of each platform A, a

series of metal tubes C, are placed; four are represented under each platform in Fig. 2, the. tubes being shown by dotted lines` but any proper number may be used. These tubes have their ends fitted in cleats or bars D, attached to the under sides of the platforms.

In each tube C a metal rod E, is fitted and allowed to slide freely. The inner ends of these rods bear against spiral springs a, which are placed in the tubes, and the outer ends of the rods of each platform at each side of the coupling B, B, are connected by bars Z1, as shown clearly in Fig. 2. The springs a, have a tendency to keep the bars b, of the two platforms in contact as shown in Fig. 2.

To the outer end 0f each bar b, a, vertical rod F, is attached, and to each rod F, chains G, are secured, two of which are shown at* tached to each rod in Fig. 1, but more may be used. These chains are attached at their opposite ends to the usual railing or guards I of the platforms A, A, said guards extendin a suitable distance from points c, in lino with the rods I", toward the sides of the platforms.

From the above description it will be seen that the rods E, will yield or give to com pensate for the varying width of space between the platforms, and the same may be said ofthe chain.- fr, which form side guards. It is designed to have the ros E, suilioiently near together so that. the feet cannot pass between them, and it will therefore be seen that passengers may pass from one car to another witi perfect. safety, and as the rods E, which form the treads or supplementary platforms are allowed to slide 1n the tubes C. and the side guards also allowed to con tract or yield so that the varyin width of the space between the platforms 1s compensated for, the device is rendered perfectly practicable.

I am aware that sliding platforms have been applied to cars and I do not claim separate y and broadly such device irrespective of construction and their connection with proper side guards, but

Having thus described my invention, what I ciaim as new and desire te secure by Lct= ters Patent, is

The su plementary latfcrms or treads formed o the rods tted in tubes C, at tached to the platforms, the rods bearing against springs a., n'the tubes, in combination with the side iards formed of the vertical rods F, attac led to the bars b, and the chains G, which are connected to the rods F, and the railing or guards H, of the platforms, the whole being arranged substantally as and for the purpose set forth.

H. A. NEWHALL. 

